This invention relates to the selective hydrogenation of diolefins to monoolefins. In a particular aspect, this invention relates to the removal of diolefins contained in monoolefin streams.
Frequently monoolefin streams, such as those used as feed in polymerization and alkylation reactions, contain diolefins as impurities. These diolefin impurities often interfere with the intended use of the monoolefin(s) and must be substantially removed from the monoolefin streams. A particularly suitable diolefin removal process is the selective hydrogenation of diolefin(s) to the corresponding monoolefin(s) in the presence of catalysts. Frequently, some of these known catalysts are too active and also hydrogenate monoolefins (to paraffins). Other catalysts exhibit too little hydrogenation activity and/or deactivate at an undesirably high rate The present invention pertains to a process for selectively hydrogenating diolefins to monoolefins, wherein the undesirable hydrogenation of monoolefins to paraffins and catalyst deactivation are minimized.